


Harry Potter and the Fucking Realistic Epilogue

by AngelicaSatan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Anorexia, Cheating, Divorce, Drug Use, F/M, HP: EWE, I'm not kidding, M/M, Not who you think though, Self Harm, Seriously: Fuck the original epilogue, Suicide, i warned you, seriously, this is angsty as hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 10:51:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13433160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelicaSatan/pseuds/AngelicaSatan
Summary: Let's be honest with ourselves. These kids grew up in the middle of a war trying to protect themselves and the people they care about. Not one of them would be a healthy, stable human being by the end. They need help. Here is some insight into what happened after the story ended with some of our main characters.





	1. Harry and Ginny

**Author's Note:**

> Be warned. This may be incredibly dark and a little triggering. It's my perspective on what the epilogue should really have been. It's obviously not going to be the best ever ending, but I think it works.  
> This came about through a 6 hour conversation in a stairwell, so there's that...  
> Sorry.

Harry and Ginny got married 6 months after the war ended. It was sudden, with little warning, but they'd been dancing around each other for at least a year before they got together so it was fine right?

They started falling back on old habits a couple months later. Harry started drinking more. Ginny stopped eating as much. They fought almost constantly and about almost everything. Things settled down for about a year when Ginny got pregnant with James, but soon after got worse than before. They we're stressed out, their friends and family weren't doing well, and they weren't sleeping enough with a new born. Ginny ate less. Harry started using alcohol as an escape. They had more screaming matches than civil conversations. It came to a head within the year and they were divorced.

Ginny hadn't had a lot going for her throughout school aside from her infamous Weasley temper. She'd spent so long hero worshipping and crushing on Harry that she hadn't really developed outside of that. She wanted to be like her own mother, marry young and stay home to raise a gaggle of children. She had targeted Ron and Harry's friends to date during school, Dean and Neville, because it pissed off her brother and drew Harry's attention. She knew it wasn't exactly healthy, but she was sure that she and Harry would marry some day and that was all that mattered. When that marriage fell apart she didn't really know who she was outside of Harry.

Ginny was married again two years later and pregnant with her next child when she found out her new husband had lied about his job, money, and family. They were divorced soon after and she was remarried three years later. They stayed together long enough for another child to be born before he grew tired of her temper and refusal to get help.

She had full custody of her three children and was going to raise them entirely on her own. She could handle it. Even if the day she took James to the train for his first year at Hogwarts she weighed just over 100lbs.

Harry found drinking was no longer enough. It started with dreamless sleep. He started taking it for the nightmares when he was still in school. He'd always done so under the careful eye of Madam Pomfrey. He'd taken it sparingly after the war but stopped entirely when James was born to ensure he would be ready if something happened. After Ginny took full custody of James, he started taking it on a nightly basis. He literally could not sleep without it anymore.

Soon it wasn't enough either. His drinking got worse and he started using muggle drugs to feel something positive. He had first tried marijuana when he was thirteen, after knicking some from Dudley, to deal with the Dursleys and the empty feelings he got when disconnected from the freedoms and friendships he'd gained. So he started going out to clubs or bars, get wasted, and then smoke marijuana, eat shrooms, or take ecstasy to try to feel something. He started using amphetamines and cocaine to stay vigilant at work mornings after as party nights became more common. He wasn't doing it every day, he was fine, really.

He was careful not to use anything around James. He tried his best to ensure he was a good father, even if he wasn't around an awful lot. That wasn't his fault, Ginny had decided she wanted sole custody and Harry hadn't had a good reason why he should get partial custody. He was a mess really. Better that he clean up his act for hours at a time, for visitation rather than all the time. He didn't really have a problem. He was fine. He could stop whenever he wanted. He just felt so empty all the time.

 He was perfectly sober the day James started at Hogwarts, and his hands only shook a little thank-you very much.


	2. Hermione and Ron

Ron and Hermione got married a few months after Harry and Ginny. They were meant to be together right?

Things had gone well for the first couple of years. Hermione got pregnant a week before Ginny, and whether or not that was coordinated by the girls themselves was up for debate. Hermione had read every parenting book she could get her hands on by the time Rose was born. As any parent can attest to, she was not really prepared. They worked their way through, but Ron was often non-present, or unhelpful as far as Hermione was concerned, and Hermione did most of the work herself, sure she was the only one who could do the job well enough.

Things were awkward for a while when Harry and Ginny split. Ron was torn whether he should side with his best friend or little sister. Gatherings were uncomfortable and Harry was around less as a result. Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley, decided that the fault was not with either party, they simply married too young. It was then agreed that the topic would be avoided in polite conversation and no one would have to take anyone's side. They were simply better off separate. There was, however, a conscious effort made to avoid being caught alone with them, or with both of them at all.

When Hermione first started cheating on Ron she convinced herself it was his fault. She had discovered, in fourth year, that sex made her feel confident, powerful, and in control. Had Ron been around more often, had he been more helpful, had he been enough, she wouldn't have had to seek those feelings out elsewhere. Logically, she knew that wasn't fair. She knew the choice was hers alone. But, she had also decided that what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and he was far too dense to notice. So it didn't really matter whose fault it was, because no one would ever know to lay blame.

The day Harry stumbled upon Hermione and a one night stand at a muggle bar, he didn't know how to deal with it. He already had a pretty good buzz going and he wasn't sure it was he at first. Then he heard her laugh and was certain. He was also pretty sure she had no idea he saw her.  He couldn't just tell Ron, it would hurt him too much, but he also couldn't hide this from his best friend. He decided it was a decision that could wait until morning. The fuzzy memories the next morning as he shot back a hangover potion left him unsure it had even happened. It wasn't until he caught her a third time that he finally told Ron. Ron had punched him square in the jaw with a shout about how he shouldn't make up things about other people. Just because his marriage hadn't worked out didn't mean everyone else's was destined to fail. Hermione would never do that to him. And how would Harry know anyways, he was rarely sober enough to tell up from down. At that point Harry walked away, knowing there was nothing else he could do. He got so fucked up that night that he was unable to leave his house for three days after.

Ron had taken to going for drinks with his work buddies regularly. They started off betting on silly shit and it progressed into everything. Quidditch, poker, muggle sports, elections, anything that they could bet on they would. It's not like Ron was able to control anything at home. He wasn't allowed to do much, even when it came to his own kids. Inevitably he started losing more than he won. It was bound to happen. He picked up overtime whenever he could to try to make up for the losses, and tried even harder to win his money back.

When Harry told Ron about Hermione, he didn't believe it. He may have, in retrospect, shot the messenger. He thought about apologizing, but figured Harry had gotten over it a few days later when he was invited out to the bar. Harry had drunk far more than Ron, but seemed to be holding his liquor far better than Ron was. Then, while Harry was in the loo, Ron saw Hermione snogging another man. He didn't want to believe it anymore seeing it than he did when it was coming out of Harry's mouth. He left it alone, for then. He didn't want to see his marriage fall apart the way his best friend and sister's had. It festered for a week before he snapped. He screamed about it all, screamed that he saw he, and when she tried to deny it he slapped her across the face.

They pretended none of it ever happened. Ron kept gambling, Hermione kept cheating. They never spoke of it again. The day they took Rose to Kings cross for her first year they went together, and neither would admit there was anything wrong.


	3. George

George had a plan. He knew exactly what he was going to do. He had plans A through Z made and was prepared for everything. He had one year, that was it. So he had to make sure he knew what he was doing. He'd always been good at elaborate planning. Had to be to pull off half the pranks they had. Fred had never really had the patience for planning.

First he had to make sure the shop would be taken care of. He couldn't let their legacy fade away. First he got Lee to take a position at the shop. Said something along the lines of running a joke shop is no fun alone and Lee ate it up. Then George started grooming him to take over. Hired some more staff. Opened up another shop and hired on a manager and some staff there too. He started to work harder on new designs. He found a couple of people with some skill and took them under his wing. Trained them to take over inventing. He needed to be sure the shop would remain successful. Finally he convinced Lee to take Fred's share of the shop. He was now a full partner.

Next he had to make sure his family would be taken care of. He sold things he didn't need, told people they reminded him too much of Fred and that he needed a change. No one questioned him after that. It wasn't a complete lie. They really did remind him of Fred, and he really did want them gone, he just never planned on replacing them. He put all of the money from the sales into his parent's vault at Gringot's. He asked the goblins not to mention it, said his parents would be to proud to accept the gift. He was sure the goblins knew the truth, but they agreed anyways. They could respect a boy wanting to take care of his parents. He started splitting the majority of his salary among family member's vaults, keeping only what he needed for food and basic necessities. The goblins definitely knew what was going on.

Finally he wanted to make sure no one would be hurt any more than necessary. He started distancing himself from friends and family. He stopped seeing people. Limited visits to quick, informal things with very little deeper meaning. He avoided people. He put on appropriate faces, used the right excuses, to make it look like he was just mourning. He had, after all, lost the closest person too him. His other half. There were a few people who tried to talk him into becoming more social. Tried to tell him Fred wouldn't have wanted him to spend all of his time alone. Tried to tell him it would get better, that he'd move on, find someone, have a family. They were wrong. Some tried yelling at him, telling him to get the fuck over it, everyone lost people. They didn't understand. It didn't matter. Most were too distracted with their own attempts to live to really notice.

On May 2nd 1999 George was ready. He'd done everything he set out to do. He'd emptied the apartment above the shop that morning. He'd written out his will and left it with the Goblins, it was easier. He'd considered leaving a note, but he figured it wouldn't help. The person he most wanted to talk to wouldn't be there to read it anyways. He had considered disappearing without a trace. Just leaving the final line of his story blank. But, he decided, that wouldn't be fair. His friends and family deserved closure. To know, without question, that he was gone. Rather than searching for him in every face they saw on the street. It had taken him a little while to decide how to do it, well not how... but where. He wanted to match again, but he couldn't really blow up a Hogwarts hallway. He wouldn't sully the joke shop, the apartment, or the burrow. He considered the place for longer than he would have liked. Eventually he landed on the shrieking shack. He had dated his will, and listed the place of death, so it was unlikely he would be missing for long before he was found.

He was calm, almost peaceful, when the time came. He'd resolved everything long ago. He had no regrets. He knew people would miss him, there was nothing he could do about that. He knew he was forcing his family to bury another son, another brother, another friend, but he couldn't do it. The only reason he'd made it through the last year was because he'd had this plan already. He couldn't live without him. He couldn't live seeing a ghost every time he looked in the mirror. He couldn't live without his brother, best-friend, twin, other half, everything. Fred was all he'd had, they'd taken care of each other, raised each other, protected each other, taught each other, supported each other. They'd always been far to codependent. He was already half dead, so when he raised his wand to finish the job, all he felt was contented. He would finally be whole again.

Seconds before his body hit the floor, owls from Gringots arrived at several houses. They bore summons for the reading of the final will and testament of George Weasley. His body was found hours later. Buried a week later, in a plot next to Fred's with a pre-purchased coffin and headstone. He'd really  planned for everything. Harry would admit later that he had seen it coming. Lee would then admit he'd suspected something, it wasn't entirely a surprise. Molly would wonder as she tried to sleep that night if there was anything she could have done, Arthur would reassure her that there wasn't. Bill and Charlie would each visit their brother's grave at a later date, rather than attend the funeral. They felt it wasn't really their place. Bill would arrived first, apologize for not being there, apologize for not saving either of them. Charlie would arrive a couple days later and say nothing, he didn't know what to say. Neither would visit anyone else while they were there.

Lee kept the shop going, expanded it further, hired more people on. By the time the generation born after the war started at Hogwarts, Fred and George saw them all off to school in the form of disappearing ink quills and skiving snack boxes from one of thirteen locations worldwide.


	4. Percy

Percy was doing fine, thank-you very much. He certainly didn't need anyone's help. He was fine. Absolutely fine. He wasn't overworked, and four hours of sleep a night was plenty, really. Sure he only really had time for one or two meals a day, and sure he hadn't taken a moment to himself in years, but he was handling all of it just fine. He could do it. He was fine. Everything was fine.

It started at the burrow. He started doing more. Trying to make up for time apart. Trying to make up for not being there. Trying to make up for not helping. He visited daily, helped out around the house, and tried to make up for everything. Even things he didn't do, that weren't his fault. He helped plan and fund Ginny and Ron's weddings. He helped Ron and Hermione find an apartment. He helped his parents re-build. He helped his mother prepare dinner and listened as his father waffled on about rubber ducks and televisions. It got worse after George died. He became even more present, trying to help his parents in any way he could.

It continued at work. He took responsibilities like sugar in his tea. He felt he needed to ensure the ministry was better than before. Needed to make sure something like this never happened again. He threw himself into the rebuilding process. He read through some of the oldest, and driest, laws to find the ones that weren't helping. He did everything he could to help the new minister. He helped to find and remove the last of the death eaters from the Wizengamot  and ministry departments. He set up a new vetting process for aurors to ensure people weren't joining out of trauma or guilt. Those people shouldn't be policing anyone. He didn't want anyone else to go out taking too many risks out of a desire to go out a hero. He set himself to work building programs for people who'd been affected by the war. Set up, found land for, staffed, and found funding for an orphanage for wizarding children so no one else would end up hurt like Harry. He did everything he could to fix anything and everything he could find. He often worked 10-12 hours, showing up around 5 in the morning, in an attempt to get everything done.

It wasn't helped at home. He finally married Audrey, they'd been dating four years when he proposed. They had two beautiful daughters, the first within months of his younger siblings, and Percy did his best to be more present than his own father had been. He didn't blame Arthur mind you. There'd been a war going on, and Arthur had an important job at the ministry. It hadn't really been his fault that he hadn't really been there for his eldest children's childhoods. But Percy wanted to be better. He made a conscious effort to spend time with his daughters. He arrived at work earlier to ensure he was home longer when his children were awake. He spent his weekends with his girls and wife, and made sure to take them all the places they wanted to go. He was sure to take his fair share of the work from Audrey, made sure to provide for his family while still being present. No matter how tired he was at the end of the night, Audrey always fell asleep first. He always made sure that his family would want for nothing.

It ended in St. Mungo's. He'd fallen at work and been completely unresponsive. He'd been rushed to the hospital within minutes. He was stabilized, but he was in a coma for six days. The healers said it was a combination of severe exhaustion, malnutrition, and stress. Everyone who knew him spent all six days wondering how they'd missed it. He always left work at a normal time. He visited often but it wasn't excessive. He worked hard, but not so much so as to be worrying. Sure he was thin, but he'd always been. And yeah, he'd had bags under his eyes, but most people at the ministry did. What had they missed?

When Percy woke up he told everyone he'd just wanted to fix everything. Help as much as he could. Be better. Then he apologized for not being good enough. Apologized for being hospitalized. Apologized for failing. His boss swore he'd done nothing wrong and told him to take some time to rest. His job would still be there when he was better. And, from now on, come in at a normal time like eight, okay? Audrey begged him not to scare her like that again. To tell her the truth about what was happening with him. To take care of himself as well. The next time he came over, Molly kept filling his plate until he actually begged her to stop. Then she sent him home early with orders to get some sleep.

Two weeks later when he saw Lucy off for her first day at Hogwarts, he was standing on his own two feet and trying not to think to hard about all the things at work and home that weren't getting done.


	5. Draco

Draco would be the first person to admit he wasn't even remotely okay. Well, not to anyone mind. He wasn't going to start telling random strangers on the street that he wasn't okay. But to people he trusted, he certainly wasn't going to deny facts.

It had started when he was a kid. His father had never been warm. That may have been an understatement. His mother had never been warm. His father had been downright icy. His father had been, as had been pointed out to him by Uncle Sev when he was six, downright abusive. He was cruel, knocked Draco around, and spoke to him as though he were the dirt on his shoe. There was no other word for it really. Draco had grown up believing he wasn't enough, believing he was worthless, and desperate to prove he could be good enough for his father. It twisted him as a child. He could see that later, looking back. Meant any form of rejection, such as rejecting a handshake or offer of friendship, would drive him to resentment and into a downward spiral of self hatred.

He would admit he'd antagonized Ron a little bit, okay maybe a fair amount, in school. To be fair, Ron hated him before they ever met. Ron was a prejudiced as Draco had been brought up to be, just in different directions. But, if he was honest, he made no attempts to prove the red head wrong. If he thought about it, he had known that the youngest two Weasley's had tempers on their tempers, and he may have been counting on that. Counting on Ron to take snide comments and turn the confrontation physical. And he did, time and time again. And, if Draco didn't heal the bruises, aches, and a few broken bones and let them heal on their own, who was to know or blame him.

It had gotten worse after second year. Lucius became angrier after losing Dobby and decided it was Draco's fault. What had once been whacks upside the head, grabbing a little too hard, and the occasional stinging jinx had shifted into shoves into the walls and floor, backhands across the face, and the occasional Cruciatus curse. It had reached a point where his hands shook a little from excessive application of the unforgivable. He felt more and more like he deserved it, like it was his own damn fault.

After the incident with Buckbeak in third year he realized how much more real he felt when he was bleeding. It took him two weeks after healing before he cast a cutting curse on his own leg. It took him a few tries to get the hang of it, by then he was hooked on the euphoria of it. The calm that came after with the awareness that he was in control. He knew he shouldn't be doing it. Sev had caught him before the end of the year. He made Draco promise to come to him when he felt like that, so that someone would be there if he accidently went too far. Draco apologized, Sev told him he didn't have to be strong all the time, and they'd sat in silence for the rest of the evening.

By fifth year he'd lost all faith in his father. He believed nothing his father had ever told him but had no way to separate himself from his and his father's reputation. He tried to keep as many people safe from Umbridge as he could with the inquisitorial squad. They didn't really help, they just avoided getting in trouble themselves. Severus admitted once, in private, that he was proud of how Draco had found a way to protect his own.

When Voldemort marked him and gave him his task Draco briefly considered doing his job for him. He knew he wasn't going to succeed. He couldn't kill Dumbledore. He couldn't escape, or switch sides. Then his mother made Severus swear an unbreakable vow and Draco knew he had to try. He couldn't let Sev suffer for his failure. He wouldn't make Sev kill Dumbledore if he could help it. He had to try. He failed anyways.

He never went to trial in the end. Lucius had sworn, under veritaserum, that Draco and Narcissa had been forced to follow him. He swore all the decisions had been his. Potter spoke briefly to inform everyone that Draco and Narcissa had both helped him, if not for them, he wouldn't have survived long enough to defeat Voldemort. They were both released immediately, free and clear. Draco became Lord Malfoy, and his father received the kiss. He felt guilty for being relieved. He was sad that his father was gone, and his mom was barely present anymore, but all he could think was that his father couldn't hurt or control him anymore. He didn't need to pretend to be a perfect pureblood heir. He could marry who he wanted, he could do what he wanted, he could make allies, he didn't have to hide.

After the other Weasley twin and his mother had both killed themselves Draco realised he may actually need help. He saw a mind healer, as it turned out the same one Neville had been seeing since he was a child, and got himself back on track. He and Neville became friends, both knowing what the person raising you can do to your head. He, on his therapists recommendation, finally admitted his crush to Blaise, who admitted he felt the same way.

Years later when they saw their son off for his first year at Hogwarts, Draco patted Neville on the back, smiled, and realised he may actually be okay after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you for reading.


End file.
